Proximity Based Sub-Pooling of Network Devices in Mobile Wireless Networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016295449-A1
Application number	US-201514679395-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 6, 2015
Priority date	Apr 6, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, determining message transfer delays based on transport layer control information associated with network traffic of a backhaul network coupled between a number of core network nodes of a wireless network and a wireless access node of the wireless network. The message transfer delays are representative of the network traffic between the core network nodes and the wireless access node. Weighting factors are assigned to the core network nodes based on the message transfer delays. The weighting factors are exposed to a scheduler that identifies a first group of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes based on the weighting factors. The wireless access node preferentially establishes communications via the first group of core network nodes. The wireless access node establishes communications via the second group, responsive to an inability to establish communications via any core network nodes the first group. Other embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
accessing, by a system comprising a processor, transport layer control information associated with network traffic of a backhaul network communicatively coupled between a plurality of core network nodes of a wireless communication network and a radio access node of the wireless communication network, wherein the radio access node is communicatively coupled to the plurality of core network nodes by way of the backhaul network; determining, by the system, a plurality of message transfer delays based on the transport layer control information, wherein the plurality of message transfer delays are representative of the network traffic between the plurality of core network nodes and the radio access node; assigning, by the system, a plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of message transfer delays; and providing, by the system, a scheduler with access to the plurality of weighting factors to enable the scheduler to identify a first group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of weighting factors, wherein the providing of the access enables the radio access node to establish communications links with the first and second groups of core network nodes, selectively sending communications messages:
via a first core network node of the first group of core network nodes responsive to a first determination that the first core network node is available to establish the communications, and
via a second core network node of the second group of core network nodes responsive to a second determination of an inability to establish the communications via any core network nodes of the first group of core network nodes or responsive to a second determination of excessive transport delays to any signaling nodes in the first group of signaling nodes.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
repeating periodically, by the system, the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays to obtain an updated plurality of message transfer delays; assigning, by the system, a plurality of updated weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the updated plurality of message transfer delays; and providing, by the system, the scheduler with access to the plurality of updated weighting factors to enable the scheduler to re-associate a third core network node of the plurality of core network nodes with one of the first group of core network nodes or the second group of core network nodes.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays comprises determining a round trip time of a stream-control-transmission-protocol message exchanged between the plurality of core network nodes and the radio access node.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first core network node comprises a mobility management entity of an evolved packet core of a long term evolution network, and wherein the radio access node comprises an evolved Node B.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising comparing the message transfer delays to a static predefined threshold value, and determining the plurality of weighting factors based on the comparing of the message transfer delays to the static predefined threshold value.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising determining service level agreement latency values of the backhaul network, wherein the plurality of weighting factors are based on the plurality of message transfer delays and the service level agreement latency values.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
repeating, by the system, the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays over a sample window; and statistically averaging, by the system, the plurality of message transfer delays over the sample window to obtain a plurality of statistically averaged message transfer delays, wherein the assigning of the plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes is based on the plurality of statistically averaged message transfer delays.

8 . A device, comprising:
a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
determining a plurality of message transfer delays based on transport layer control information associated with network traffic of a backhaul network communicatively coupled between a plurality of core network nodes of a wireless communication network and a wireless access node of the wireless communication network, wherein the wireless access node is communicatively coupled to the plurality of core network nodes by way of the backhaul network, wherein the message transfer delays are representative of the network traffic between the plurality of core network nodes and the wireless access node;
assigning a plurality of weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of message transfer delays; and
advertising the plurality of weighting factors to a scheduler that identifies a first group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes and a second group of core network nodes of the plurality of core network nodes based on the plurality of weighting factors,
wherein the advertising enables the wireless access node to send communications messages via a second core network node of the second group of core network nodes, responsive to a determination of an inability to send communications messages via a first core network node of the first group of core network nodes, or responsive to a message transfer delay above a threshold value.

9 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:
repeating periodically the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays to obtain an updated plurality of message transfer delays; assigning a plurality of updated weighting factors to the plurality of core network nodes based on the updated plurality of message transfer delays; and advertising the plurality of updated weighting factors to the scheduler to enable the scheduler to re-associate a third core network node of the plurality of core network nodes with one of the first group of core network nodes or the second group of core network nodes.

10 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the determining of the plurality of message transfer delays comprises determining a round trip time of a stream-control-transmission-protocol message exchanged between the plurality of core network nodes and the wireless access node, and wherein the advertising enables the wireless access node to establish the communications via the first core network node of the first group of core network nodes responsive to a first determination that the first core network node is available to establish the communications.

11 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the second core network node comprises a mobility management entity of an evolved packet core of a long term evolution network, and wherein the wireless access node comprises an evolved Node B.

12 . The device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise comparing the message transfer delays to a static predefined threshold value, and determining the plurality of weighting factors based on the comparing of the message transfer delays to the static predefined threshold value.

13 . The device of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise: determining service level agreement latency values of the backhaul network, wherein the plurality of weight

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Seenappa Vikram
• Kodaypak Rajendra Prasad
• Wang Jiansong

Classifications

• H04L45/22

  Alternate routing · CPC title

• H04L45/46 Primary

  Cluster building · CPC title

• H04W28/0236 Primary

  radio quality, e.g. interference, losses or delay · CPC title

• H04W80/06

  Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless {(transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16)} · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title